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The Great Austerity Swindle!

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Our Congresspeople, corporate CEOs, tea partiers, most economists, Pete Peterson's minions, and even our President, tell us that we're running out of money; and that we can't keep running huge deficits, and increasing our national debt forever, because eventually, our creditors will just cease lending us our dollars back.

They also tell us that the Government can only raise money by either taxing or borrowing, and that when it comes to taxing, we can't tax “the job creators” very much or they'll go on strike and won't create any jobs because we'll have killed their incentive. So, here we are, we have to reduce our borrowing, and we can have hardly any tax increases on “the job creators,” so what's a fiscally responsible nation to do?

Well, they say, clearly “we” have to lower taxes on “the job creators” even more, raise them on the “unproductive” 47% or is it the 99%? And also, cut spending substantially on programs that provide benefits for the poor, the middle class, and even the 99%, so we can “. . . live within our means,” and remove the burden of excessive public debt on our grandchildren.

But, what if we say to these people, well, “the job creators” aren't making any jobs? That's a fact! They give all kinds of excuses, but the truth is that they have no sales, so they have no incentive to create any more jobs.

On the other hand, the more we lower their taxes, the more money they have sitting idle, and the more they have an incentive to use that money to invest in financial manipulation schemes rather than jobs. So, why not tax them at extremely high rates on net profits and provide them an incentive to lower their net profits by spending more of their gross profits on tax-deductible business expenses like employees and business expansion? Why won't high taxes on them do more to create jobs than lower taxes? Didn't we have far lower unemployment rates when marginal tax rates were sky-high, than we have now when they are a pittance on the wealthy?

And what if we say to them, well, Congress can always reorganize the Federal Reserve so that the regional Fed Banks are nationalized and both they and the Board of Governors are placed under the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury, so that the Secretary is empowered to create reserves out of thin air to fill the Treasury's spending account, and keep it filled with sufficient funds to repay the national debt and cover the deficit without borrowing? And what if we tell them further, that we know that Congress has the Constitutional authority to do this? And what if we ask them, why doesn't it do this, and get the national debt that you, our leaders, are so worried about, paid off, and keep us debt free? And what if we ask them still further, and if you do this then why would we have to have any spending cuts or tax increases, at all?

And what if we say to them, we also know that to pay off the national debt and cover the deficits for years to come; it isn't even necessary for Congress to reorganize the Fed, because the Treasury can use the Fed to create money in Treasury's account from seigniorage? What if we say to them that all that's necessary is for the President to mint a High Value Platinum Coin (HVPC) with a face value of $60 Trillion dollars, deposit it at the Fed, and then begin to pay off the national debt and implement deficit spending using the electronic credits created in the process of seigniorage?

And what if we say to them, we also know that it is a myth that the Federal Government can only get money for spending from taxing or borrowing because Congress can modify the laws, as just described, so Treasury can generate US money out of thin air, just as the Fed does today, that Treasury can use to pay down the debt and cover deficit spending?

And what if we say to them, we know that you'll say that this is “printing money” and will cause inflation? But what if we then say, sorry, but we know very well that it will not cause inflation; because reserves issued unaccompanied by debt are no more inflationary than reserves issued along with debt and, most importantly, we also know that if you legislate the ability for Treasury to do this, then you won't have to worry about the deficit and debt or our grand children anymore; and we won't have to worry about your cutting safety net and other necessary programs anymore?

And what if we say to them, we also know that it is a myth that the Federal Government can only get money for spending from taxing or borrowing, because the President can use Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS) to harness the power of the Fed to generate reserves that end up in the Treasury General Account (TGA), and Treasury can then use the reserves to pay down the debt and cover deficit spending?

And what if we say to them, we also know that this won't cause inflation for reasons stated above, and, most importantly, we also know that if Treasury does this on orders of the President, then you won't have to worry about the deficit and debt or our grand children anymore; and we won't have to worry about your cutting safety net and other necessary programs anymore either?

And what if we tell them that, for all the reasons indicated in these questions, we also know that all your reasons for wanting to reduce the deficit and impose austerity on the 99% are bogus? We don't know which of you believe in these reasons and which of you do not. But this isn't as important as it seems, because we know that the debt commissions, the debt ceiling crises, the fiscal cliff, the sequestration, the continuing resolution, budgetary crises, and the constant propaganda campaign from all of you directed at all of us, is a grand “shock doctrine” process attempting to swindle us out of a government that works for 99% of us rather than the 1%. We know that “the Grand Bargain” is “the Great Betrayal”! And we won't have it!

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